Alaric Saltzman
Alaric "Ric" Saltzman is a history teacher at Mystic Falls High School and a vampire hunter. He originally came to Mystic Falls to find the vampire that killed his wife, but learned she voluntarily became a vampire and left him. He also learned that his wife had a daughter named Elena Gilbert, who is now his student and began a relationship with her adoptive aunt Jenna. Following Jenna's tragic death, he seems to start to act as a father figure to Elena and Jeremy. Ironically, he is technically Elena's stepfather due to Isobel. As a vampire hunter, he designed several weapons to fight vampires. This character is a relative of the Elena Gilbert and Gilbert Family. Early life The Saltzmans are descendants of German immigrants who arrived in Texas in 1755. He was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He mentions to Jenna Sommers that during high school, he wore eyeglasses and had a skin condition. While attending Duke University, he met and married Isobel Flemming, a parapsychologist(it revealed by Meredith that Isobel filed restraining order against him twice) who had an interest in vampires, a topic he would regularly tease her about. He said that she was "like Mulder, except hotter, and a girl." At some point, Isobel gave him a ring and told him to always wear it. One night he returned home late to find a vampire in his bedroom drinking Isobel's blood. Her body was never found and she was assumed to be dead. Alaric took over her research and found out about Mystic Falls and the rumors about vampires being alive in the town. He went there to find out the truth and discover what had happened to his wife. He also created a number of anti-vampire weapons so as to protect himself and others from them. Season One Alaric moved to Mystic Falls and took up the position of a history teacher after the death of the previous one, William Tanner. He found a file Mr. Tanner had for Jeremy Gilbert labeled the "jack-ass" file. Alaric gave Jeremy a clean start and decided to help him out with his grades by giving him an extra credit history report about any event that happened in Mystic Falls. Jenna Sommers, Elena and Jeremy's aunt and legal guardian, took an interest in Alaric and was okay that he talked about Isobel, feeling that he needed to let it all out. Alaric came across Logan Fell and staked him because he was a vampire. It was revealed that Alaric was a vampire hunter and had researched and studied them. He met up with Jenna who told him Elena, her niece, was researching her birth mother whose name was Isobel. Alaric didn't believe they were the same person until Jenna showed him a picture of Isobel who he recognized as his deceased wife. Shocked that she never told him, he left. He later told Jenna that he wasn't ready for Elena to ask him any questions about Isobel. He recognized Damon Salvatore as the vampire who "killed" Isobel at a party and confronted him. Damon taunted Alaric that the life he had with Isobel didn't seem to be enough for her, revealing that she begged him to turn her into a vampire before stabbing him in the lung with a stake. Stefan Salvatore, Damon's younger brother, was surprised that Damon had done this but was shocked that Alaric woke up alive. Alaric said it was the ring. Since finding out the truth, his relationship with Damon is less antagonistic. Alaric later helped Damon with escaped tomb vampires who kidnapped Stefan to torture then kill him. His job was to get inside the house and get Ms. Gibbons out of the house but was horrified when Damon killed her. The two fought and killed several vampires. Pearl, another escaped vampire and her daughter Anna arrived afterwards. The reason Alaric helped Damon was because Damon told Alaric that Pearl could help with finding Isobel. After finding out that Damon lied, Alaric punched him in the face. Isobel came to Mystic Falls and asked Alaric to give Elena a message to meet with her. Alaric, hurt and upset with Isobel, refused and left. Isobel caught him outside the Mystic Grill and him a firmer warning: to give the message to Elena or she would kill his students one by one. Alaric did as she asked and gave the message to Elena, Stefan and Damon. He met Isobel again and took off his ring and vervain to prove that he was not protecting himself from her. Isobel compelled him to move on and get over her, showing that she still cared about him. She gave him back him ring and left. After John Gilbert turned on the device, Stefan, Damon and Anna along with several other vampires were affected and when Stefan was spotted, Alaric sent a deputy to towards another vampire instead of Stefan, saving his life. Season Two Alaric went to the Salvatore Boarding House where he was questioned by Elena, Stefan and Damon on Isobel's research on the paranormal, hoping to figure out with species The Lockwoods were. Alaric said all Isobel's research were at Duke University. He spoke to Jenna while Elena packed for the trip. Jenna was happy he was spending time with Elena because of Isobel. Alaric apologized for not being around very often, but Jenna was used to that sort of talk and told him not to bother. Damon, Elena and Alaric met Vanessa Monroe who lead them to Isobel's study before trying to shoot Elena. Alaric grabbed her and forced the crossbow out of her hands before sitting her down in a chair. He is shown to be protective of her and her family. He questioned her and she admitted that she read Isobel's research and thought Katherine and Damon were dead. To get some info on Mason Lockwood Damon gets Alaric to convince Jenna to throw a barbecue. In episode Plan B Alaric goes to Damon with some of Isobel's research on Aztec legends and is shocked to see Jeremy Gilbert there. They discover that moonstones can break the werewolf curse. Later that evening Alaric is staying for super at the Gilbert's when Elena gets a call from Katherine who made Jenna stab herself right in front of Alaric and Elena. They both rush over to her side. When Damon and Stefan are planing on killing Katherine, Alaric helped demonstrate to Jeremy how to kill a vampire with various tools and contraptions. Later he is at the Gilbert's house and protects Elena. Later on Alaric spends a lot more time at the Gilbert house, Elena even catches both him and Jenna half dressed in the middle of the night and Elena states to Jenna that she’s fine with Alaric staying around so much. In episode By the Light of the Moon, Alaric phones Damon saying Mason is now declared a ‘missing person’ and also tells him about Jules. A while later Damon meets Alaric at the Mystic Grill where they discuss if Jules is a werewolf or not, and how to prove it. They team up and while Damon distracts Jules, Alaric puts wolfsbane in her drink. Their attempt fails as Jules could smell the wolfsbane. When Stefan tries to find a way to get in touch with Isobel he goes to Alaric to ask if he has any way of contacting Isobel. When John Gilbert returned it cause a lot of problems between Alaric and Jenna. In episode Crying Wolf, Damon tells him his plan to kill Elijah. Later on during the episode both him and Damon were attacked by werewolves. Alaric was killed by Stevie by later came back to life thanks to his ring. He calls Jenna and apologizes for not meeting her. When Damon throws a dinner party, Alaric stops Damon from using the dagger against Elijah because it would kill him if he used it. While Andie Star questions Elijah, Alaric quickly stabs him in the chest from behind, who tells Damon to dispose of him, placing the dagger on the table. Later Alaric tells Damon he’s his friend, but doesn’t want any more lies between them. At the end of the episode Jenna demanded answers about Isobel but when he couldn't answer she left. John came in and threatened to tell Jenna about Isobel if he didn't get the Gilbert Ring. A day after breaking up with Jenna, Alaric told Elena and he revealed that he can't lie to her while he is with her. Elena admitted that it is getting more dangerous for Jenna, not to know what's really going on, but explained that she wanted to leave it until Klaus had been dealt with. Alaric promised to respect Elena's decision about whether or not to tell Jenna. He later met Jenna at the grill bar and admitted that he hated that she is upset. Jenna stated that she can handle anything he is hiding and left. Alaric walked Jenna home and told her that Isobel is dead, and adds that he loves Jenna. When Isobel later showed up in town she had a talk with her husband in which she revealed that she compelled him to move on and then Alaric is kidnapped by Maddox and used by Klaus as a medium to speak to Katherine. In the next few days Klaus used Alaric to get info on the group by discovering that Bonnie is a super powered witch. He told Jenna about vampires, and since the full moon was coming Klaus got Greta Martin and Maddox to perform a spell that returned Klaus back to his body thus freeing Alaric. In the episode The Last Day, Alaric goes to the Salvatore Boarding House to give everyone a message that the sacrifice happens tonight, and Jenna points a crossbow at him. He states that he is not Klaus by telling her about his first night with Jenna. Alaric admits that he doesn't remember anything that happened in the last few days. Later when Stefan and Damon are fighting, Alaric and Jenna walk in. He tells Jenna to get Stefan some blood bags down from the cellar. After Stefan recovers Alaric apologizes for not confiding in Jenna earlier, explaining that he should have known she could handle it. Jenna admits that she doesn't know if she can. She says she is glad he is ok, and they kiss. He later helps Damon by inviting him in his house so Damon can get info from Katherine on where Klaus's werewolf and vampire is. In the episode The Sun Also Rises, Alaric, Stefan, and Elijah arrived at the place where Bonnie is and talked about the plan. Later Alaric tells Damon that Stefan is going to offer himself and Damon is furious. Alaric notices that something is wrong but Damon claims that he is fine. When everyone was leaving the house Alaric couldn't because Bonnie put up a barrier so that he couldn't leave. When Damon returned he said that Jenna had died. Alaric attended Jenna's funeral and lay a rose on her grave. In As I Lay Dying, he is seen first drinking in a bar obviously still grieving Jenna. Later he helps the other look for Damon after he escapes the boarding house while sick by a werewolf bite. After Jeremy is accidentally shot by Sheriff Forbes he carries him for Bonnie so she can revive him. She does and later that night he crashes in the Gilbert home to look after him. This implies he has decide to take a more active role in Jeremy's and Elena's lives. Season Three In The Birthday, Alaric has stepped in as a guardian for Elena and Jeremy for the two months following Jenna's death but he still refuses to sleep in the room that had once belonged to Jenna and stays on the couch. When Damon gets a lead that Klaus and Stefan are in Tennessee, he and Alaric go to find him. They find a house where two women were killed by Stefan and ripped apart. They also discover that Klaus and Stefan have been hunting a werewolf. Alaric then decides to move out of the Gilbert house because he doesn't believe that he can be a good role model for Jeremy due to his messed up life outside of his work. He also says that he doesn't want to have anything to do with the vampire world anymore. When Elena tries to find Stefan without Damon's help, she goes to Alaric who, after some convincing, tells her that Klaus is hunting werewolves. After asking help from Tyler, Elena convinces Alaric to help her find the pack in the Smoky Mountains even though it will be a full moon that night. Alaric and Elena set off and Elena offers his ring back to Alaric saying that she would feel bad if he died because of her. Although he says he won't keep it, he takes it. At that moment, Damon arrives having been warned by Alaric as to Elena's plan. Although disapproving, they keep going. That is when they fall on Ray Sutton, a werewolf that Klaus had turned into a hybrid but he had gone rabid for an unknown reason. Damon, Alaric and Elena manage to neutralize Ray by using Damon's strength, wooden stakes and wolfsbane grenades. They then tie him up but Ray starts to turn into a wolf although the moon isn't up yet. The three run but Elena trips and rises to find the wolf in front of her. Damon goads it into following him while Alaric and Elena go back to the car. There, Elena convinces Alaric that he shouldn't give up just because he feels lost. He then says that he will be keeping the ring, telling Elena that he will be sticking around. At the end of the episode, he is seen moving back into the Gilbert house. In Disturbing Behavior, Elena and Damon are getting closer, despite Alaric's warning Damon to stay away.Later Alaric and Elena try to stop Damon from going after Bill Forbes but Alaric is soon afterwards killed by Damon. The next morning Alaric comes Back to life and is greeted by Damon with a drink however Alaric is not happy with Damon for killing him and gets up and leaves In Smells Like Teen Spirit, Alaric is seen training Elena how to kill vampires in the woods. Later Alaric tries to help Elena from Stefan , but Stefan warns him not to get in his way.Elena tells Alaric how she’s one of Klaus’ assets now be cause of her blood and Stefan is sort of her bodyguard, she guesses. Later at night in rick classroom, discussing the plan. After Elena gets drunk and distracts Stefan long enough for Alaric to shoot him with a wooding stake. While in Alaric car Vicki sets it on fire to try to Kill Elena Alaric outside trying to free her. Stefan the kicks the door Alaric and Elena pull Stefan to safety. Back at the Salvatore house Elena asks Ric wants to rekindle his bromance with Damon. Ric’s not too enthused. In Ghost World, Damon goes to Alaric and tells him about Mason Lockwood ghost however Alaric still mad at Damon for killing doesn't want to help but until they both see Mason appear. Later Damon need Alaric to enter a cave in which he cant enter at first Alaric doesn't what to help after Damon tries to apologize in his way, Alaric and Damon finally friendship is renewed. In Ordinary People, Alaric and Elena are in the cave and discover a lot of drawing and words in Viking script. He translates the writings on the wall and concludes that they are viking script of the Original Family and their history. He finds a symbol for the Original Witch and the story of her death, as well as the Hybrid curse. He also finds the names of Klaus and Rebekah written on the wall. He takes photos of the cave wall and eventually is able to translate them completely.so decided Alaric and Elena that they needed to have bee together In The New Deal, Alaric is at the Grill, reading his students' papers. He went there to see Jeremy who had F for his mid term paper, but is an hour late for his shift. Later he learns that Jeremy is fired last week, and tells this to Elena. Together they try to convince Jeremy stop hanging out with Tyler, because he is sired to Klaus and considered dangerous. But it backfires and Jeremy invites Tyler in. Alaric asks Tyler the difference between being sired to and being compelled, and they learn that although he denies, he is blindly loyal to Klaus. Then Jeremy receives a phone call from Klaus. He was compelled to stand in front of a speeding car after he receives this call. When Alaric sees the car, he runs and saves Jeremy in the nick of time. Luckily the driver is Tony, a hybrid, so Alaric will come back to living. But when he wakes up, he still has his internal bleeding. He states something's wrong with the ring. Paramedics come but they are stopped by Tony, who is killed by Jeremy. Alaric is then taken to the hospital. There he meets beautiful Dr. Meredith Fell, who is amazed by his incredible fast recovery, unknown to her, it was Damon's blood. At the end, he and Elena decide to make Jeremy leave town. On their request, Damon compels Jeremy to leave the town behind and never think twice about it. In Our Town, Alaric is with Elena at his house, training. He then accompanies Damon to the Founder's Council Feast, where he meets doctor Meredith Fell again. As he got outside, he notices an argument between Meredith and her ex boyfriend Brian. He intervenes and causes Brian to go away. Before he does, Brian says that Meredith is a psycho. After he took Jeremy to the airport, he meets Meredith at the Grill, who states that she has lost a patient. In The Ties That Bind, Alaric has lunch with Meredith at the Grill, and invites her to dinner as well. He is warned by Damon to take it easy with his new girlfriend, because he believes that she may have been the one who committed the murder. Alaric tells Damon he can handle the problem, but is interrupted again during a physical-training time. Visiting him at home, Alaric is informed again by Damon that Dr. Fell used vervain on him and took his blood. Alaric gets nervous and goes to hospital where he meets Meredith. He tells her he knows about what had happened and needs answers. Meredith reveals him that she hates her patients dying so every time when she has the occasion to heal them, she will do it. In change for telling him the truth, Meredith wants to know more about Alaric. He tells her that he's a vampire hunter. After that, they kiss, but their moment is stopped by Elena. In Bringing Out the Dead, he and Elena learn that the stake used in the recent murder of the town's medical examiner as well as a council member was a stake from the Gilbert's arsenal. He begins to believe Meredith is behind the murder and begins to investigate when Bill Forbes is also killed with another Gilbert stake. Later that night Elena arrives home to find blood everywhere and Alaric stabbed and bleeding to death. He orders Elena to kill him,so that they know for sure he will come back life, since Elena as a doppelgänger is a supernatural occurrence and the attacker 's identity is still unknown. When he comes back to life he reaches for Elena for comfort. He is mentioned to be in hospital by Elena ton Matt. He is under observance but in a stable status. In All My Children, Alaric is seen at the grill with Meredith, when Damon calls him asking if he is with psycho doctor. Later that night Alaric defenses Meredith from Kol and ends up getting stab but Kol, Alaric then stakes Kol with the dagger. And starts to drag him outside he is greeted by Damon and Stefan until Klaus shows and pulls the dagger out. Later he is brought to Meredith house saying he need to help Elena but she reminds him that he is too injured to leaves. Later that night Alaric wakes up goes into the kitchen and sees files of the murder victims along with a knife. He sees Meredith standing there with a gun saying he was not supposed to see this and shoots him. In 1912, Alaric is healed from his gunshot wound by Meredith who uses vampire blood before framing him for the murders. Sheriff Forbes arrests him as all evidence points to him and, during the investigation, the only things that he says are things that will only incriminate him further such as the phone conversation he had with Meredith in which she told him Brian Walters' time of death and he was too drunk to remember the conversation. However, it id eventually revealed that Alaric had an alibi for the time of death when Meredith reveals that she had been mistaken on Brian Walters' time of death. Alaric returns home where he is approached by Meredith who convinces him not to slam the door in her face when she tells him that she had framed not to lock him up but to eliminate him as a suspect. She then reveals that she believes that he had actually committed the murders albeit unknowingly due to the strong blackouts that he's been experiencing such as the night of the Wickery Bridge fundraiser and the night when he was attacked. Meredith believes him to be sick and says that she wants to help him. Elena believes that Meredith is right after reading the journal of Samantha Gilbert which revealed that she had committed similar killings while wearing the Gilbert ring that her grandfather Johnathan had given her. Personality Alaric is a very caring person. He visibly cared for Jenna, and his wife Isobel. He is beginning to trust and care more deeply for Elena, Damon, Jeremy and others; forging a particularly strong friendship with Damon and becoming a father type of figure for Elena and Jeremy. In spite of the difficult occurrences along the way, Alaric consistently proves to be a man protective and loyal to his friends/allies. This is demonstrated in As I Lay Dying (After the death of Jenna, Alaric slides into a state of depression but takes to quick action upon hearing the inevitable fate of Damon) as well as in The Hybrid (He agrees to help Elena find Stefan but insists that Damon tag along as well). Though he is a man of intelligence, skill and strength, he can often be seen falling prey to his alcohol addiction (this is heavily emphasized throughout the first half of season 3). Physical Appearance Longish sandy blonde hair, and hazel eyes. He has a boyish smile and an inquisitive nature. Relationships Isobel Saltzman Elena's birth mother and a descendant of Katherine. She is a vampire who was turned by Damon at her own request, and claims to be a messenger from Katherine. She is married to Alaric Saltzman, the history teacher at the high school, but left him when she became a vampire. She dated John Gilbert, Elena's biological father, in high school. Although Isobel tells Elena not to look for any redeeming qualities in her, she regrets that Elena has been drawn in to the supernatural world and that Elena is involved with both Salvatore brothers. Because of her desire to keep Elena from staying involved with the Salvatore brothers, she tells John Gilbert to insure both Stefan and Damon are killed along with the tomb vampires and she agrees with John that this isn't the life they want for their daughter. Before she leaves Mystic Falls, she confronts Alaric, telling him she regrets her decision to become a vampire. Isobel than compels him to move on from her. She returns in season two allegedly to help protect Elena from Klaus but she really was compelled by him to kidnap Alaric to use him as a host. In they final conversation she apologizes for everything she put him through and that she will always love him just before she was forced to let Maddox kidnap him for Klaus. Isobel was also responsible for breaking up Alaric and Jenna as she said to Katherine. It was she who asked John to poison their relationship about the truth surrounding her death. John, who wanted his ring back since Alaric had it, agreed using this to blackmail Alaric out of his ring. She later commits suicide. See also *Damon and Alaric *Alaric and Jenna *Alaric and Meredith *Elena and Alaric *Klaus and Alaric Appearances Season 1 *''History Repeating'' (first appearance as a recurring character) *''The Turning Point'' *''Bloodlines'' *''Unpleasantville'' *''Children of the Damned'' (last appearance as a recurring character) *''A Few Good Men'' (first appearance as a main character) *''Let The Right One In'' *''Under Control'' *''Miss Mystic Falls'' *''Blood Brothers'' *''Isobel'' *''Founder's Day'' Season 2 ' *Bad Moon Rising'' *''Memory Lane'' *''Plan B'' *''Masquerade'' *''Rose'' (mentioned twice) *''The Sacrifice'' *''By The Light of the Moon'' *''The Descent'' *''Daddy Issues'' *''Crying Wolf'' *''The Dinner Party'' *''The House Guest'' *''Know Thy Enemy'' (becomes possessed by Klaus in this episode) *''The Last Dance'' (possessed by Klaus) *''Klaus'' (de-possessed by Klaus in this episode) *''The Last Day'' *''The Sun Also Rises'' *''As I Lay Dying'' '''Season 3 *''The Birthday'' *''The Hybrid'' *''Disturbing Behavior'' *''Smells Like Teen Spirit'' *''Ghost World'' *''Ordinary People'' *''The New Deal'' *''Our Town'' *''The Ties That Bind'' *''Bringing Out The Dead'' *''All My Children'' *''1912'' *''Break On Through'' *''The Murder of One'' *''Heart of Darkness'' *''Do Not Go Gentle'' *''Before Sunset'' *''The Departed'' Trivia * Kevin Williamson originally wanted James Van Der Beek for the role of "Alaric". The two previously worked together for the firs two seasons of "Dawson's Creek". * In the books his name was Alaric K. Saltzman. In the series "K" is not mentioned. * In the books Alaric was much younger and was a researcher instead of a vampire hunter. He also had a relationship with Meredith Sulez and was never married or met Elena's aunt. A while after Elena's aunt Jenna dies he meets Meredith Fell and ha a relationship with her. * He is the only non-Gilbert to be shown to use the Gilbert Ring. * He had relationships with two women (Isobel and Jenna) who were both turned into vampires and died. * Ironically, in the series, Alaric is a vampire hunter but in the books, Meredith says she is a vampire hunter. * Like Jeremy Gilbert, he has been killed once by Damon Salvatore * Alaric is the first character to use a dagger on screen. * Alaric has died in every season so far. ** Season 1: A Few Good Men ** Season 2: Crying Wolf ** Season 3: Disturbing Behavior, The New Deal, Bringing Out The Dead * With Jeremy and Matt became mediums, he is the only human main character now. * He and Elijah have most deaths in the series. (5) Episode Count * He didn't appear in the first 8 episodes and Fool Me Once, There Goes the Neighborhood, The Return, Brave New World, Kill or Be Killed, Katerina, The End of the Affair, The Reckoning, Homecoming and Dangerous Liaisons. References Category:Vampire Diaries Characters Category:Humans Category:Main Characters Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Season 2 Characters Category:Season 3 Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Mystic Falls Residents Category:Featured Articles Category:Vampire Hunters Category:Founder's Council Members Category:Legal guardian Category:Antagonists